Talk:Viretta Park Repair
Use this talk page for a discussion of issues as well as ideas for a memorial, general comments from fans, the public and the neighbors. Observations, design *Landscape design does not at all acknowledge what people are doing in the park nor where people are spending their time. What are the flows through the park? People movement, maintenance staff, neighbors, wind, water drainage, sunny areas, et cetera. *High Maintenance turf areas that are not used. Can we take out any turf areas to reduce maintenance? How can we help mowers flow through landscape? *Most users come to the park to memorialize Kurt Cobain at the benches in the lower area, which are unfortunately right in the shadow of massive holly trees. ::Update: Holly has been removed by Parks Dept.Dlj 03:59, March 1, 2011 (UTC) *Parks puts too much effort maintaining a viewpoint on top as if someone actually uses that part of the park and hardly anybody does. There is hardly any view at the top of the park and seems to serve mainly as an extended yard to the residence on the South, whose driveway cuts through the upper part of the park. Howard Schultz used to live here and left after the controversy became heated about his use of the driveway. Can we keep this area as it is and reduce maintenance somehow? It would be nice if people used this area of the park more, historical info indicates it used to be enjoyed by kids. Thoughts? *There are two high-maintenance crushed rock paths to nowhere in two areas of the park. Buffer with Neighbors *There are lots of obvious privacy concerns that we think would be of concern for the neighbors to the North. Numerous pictures are taken too close to their property. There should be more of a natural buffer to respect their privacy. Signs of disturbance can be see where people are tromping through the landscape. Please respect the privacy of the neighbors! How would you feel if you saw people looking into your property constantly? A little creeped out? Probably! BE RESPECTFUL! i have an idea. would love to share it with open minded person that makes the meetings. will talk on phone Kurt A N 360-263-3264 Several people have shared their ideas for what they would like to see in the park. What are your ideas? Edit this section and share with the world! Memorial ideas *A "Wailing Wall" for visitors to leave "prayers" & tribute. In addition to providing a sense of permanance, it would serve as a retaining wall for the park's bluff. Plus, as they do with the notes left at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem or the Vietnam Memorial, fans' mementos could be gathered & archived (at the EMP?). & it sounds right. *A nicely dedicated (donated?) stone statue in the center of the park. I imagine that a park dedicated to Kurt Cobain would be a peaceful place where people could come to appreciate him in spirit. The statue might serve his memory well if it represented something that he would find appealing---like an anatomically correct statue of a pregnant angel with poetry by William S. Burroughs on a crest beneath. Amenities that might double as a memorial feature *Consider installing a memorial garden feature near the benches where most people visit. Perhaps a colorful dahlia garden that fans and VPR can help maintain?Dlj 03:43, March 1, 2011 (UTC) *Where are the edibles? Very few juicy edible plants for visitors of neighbors and tourists to glean from. Maybe once the shady invasives are removed we can have a little more sunshine in the park for a small garden for gleaning.Dlj 03:43, March 1, 2011 (UTC) *Make a hand-made rainbow sign (with broken colored tile) with the name of the park to replace the off the shelf Parks Department version on site at the top of the park, a place where few people see or enjoy.Dlj 03:43, March 1, 2011 (UTC) Other amenities *We need a place to lock up our bikes! Write to the Mayor to get a bike rack, suitable for 10+ bikes. Remember, Lake WA Blvd. was originally designed as a cycling boulevard, not for cars.Dlj 03:43, March 1, 2011 (UTC) *Composting toilet would serve this park and several others in the area as well as those cyclists traveling down Lake WA. Blvd. The City installed the first composting toilet in 2009 at Picardo Farm P-Patch up North. Basic Clivus Multrum units are more than $15,000.Dlj 03:43, March 1, 2011 (UTC) North Rhodie bed *To the North we have an amazing bed of rhododendrons, adjacent to former Cobain/Love house, that has been overtaken with weeds. Let's clean it up and plant some good understory plants that can help compete against the invasive climbing vines (such as himalayan blackberry)! *Challenge ourselves to find showy, multi-function perennials can we have in the park that will offer staggered blooming times when other flowers are out of season. Besides edibles, what about plants that attract pollinators or other beneficial wildlife? South Viretta Park *The property along Lake WA Blvd needs massive restoration work. With only invasive weeds holding the slope, the area might be at risk for erosion and a serious slide. *Is there supposed to be a trail on the East side of the former Schultz property? Its unlikely but there seems to be info about this in the historical records (probably before Schultz redesigned property areas). Someone might want to look into this, just as a curiousity. Viretta Park actually extends quite a way South on Lake Washington Boulevard to Howell Street, but it is not accessible. All of that area is slide prone and full of nasty invasives. *This whole area along Lake WA Blvd. could be an amazing urban forest road experience. 03:03, March 1, 2011 (UTC) The holly trees *Remove all holly trees, considered weeds of concern by King County, in all zones in the park. This includes removal of the large holly tree in the developed zone of the park near the benches in the lower park of the park. The holly trees are shading out the park and wrecking havoc with the native species. They also block several sight lines and block viewpoints that are described in Parks Design documents (see links at bottom of page). ::Update: Main large holly is gone. Unsure about others on path.Dlj 03:42, March 1, 2011 (UTC) ::Update: Parks has put up signs indicating hollies are getting removed. We will ask for chips from hollies to stay on site, however, there is concern about seeds in the chips germinating again so they will probably be hauled off because Parks doesn't have a system in place for bringing the chip compost up to temperature to cook them well enough to make them inactive. Archived Entry created by Seattle Parks Department The following was created and posted on the main page of the VPR wiki by the Seattle Parks Department sometime in March/2011 to inform volunteers that the March & April work parties had been cancelled. '' The Seattle Parks Department has asked the volunteer organization to cancel this weekends' event and all future work parties until Seattle Parks has reviewed and approved work plans for Viretta Park and for the adjacent forested green space.''